JP6981458B2 - Conveyance system, exposure equipment, transfer method, exposure method and device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention includes a transport system, an exposure apparatus, conveyance method, an exposure method and device manufacturing how, in particular, the transport system for transporting the plate-like object, the exposure apparatus comprising a conveying system, the mobile plate-like object transporting method for transporting above, an exposure method using the conveyance method relates to device fabrication how using the exposure apparatus or the exposure method.

Conventionally, in the lithography process for manufacturing electronic devices (microdevices) such as semiconductor elements (integrated circuits, etc.) and liquid crystal display elements, mainly step-and-repeat projection exposure devices (so-called steppers) or step-and-steppers are used. A scanning type projection exposure device (so-called scanning stepper (also called a scanner)) or the like is used.

Substrates such as wafers or glass plates to be exposed used in this type of exposure apparatus are gradually increasing in size (for example, in the case of wafers, every 10 years). Currently, 300 mm wafers with a diameter of 300 mm are the mainstream, but the era of 450 mm wafers with a diameter of 450 mm is approaching. When shifting to 450 mm wafers, the number of dies (chips) that can be obtained from one wafer will be more than double that of the current 300 mm wafers, contributing to cost reduction.

However, since the thickness does not increase in proportion to the size of the wafer, the 450 mm wafer is weaker in strength and rigidity than the 300 mm wafer. Therefore, for example, even if one wafer transfer is taken up, it is considered that if the same means as the current 300 mm wafer is adopted as it is, the wafer may be distorted and the exposure accuracy may be adversely affected. Therefore, as a method for transporting a wafer, a 450 mm wafer is sucked from above by a transport member equipped with a Bernoulli chuck or the like in a non-contact manner to maintain flatness (flatness) and is transported to a wafer holder (holding device). However, a transport (carry-in) method or the like that can be adopted has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, when the above-mentioned non-contact suction from above by the transport member is adopted as the method for transporting the wafer onto the wafer stage (wafer holder), the horizontal plane of the wafer at an unacceptable level is difficult to correct based on the measurement result. There was a risk of misalignment (rotational misalignment) inside.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0297562

As a method of eliminating the inconvenience caused by the non-contact suction from above by the wafer transport member described above, the wafer is sucked from above by a suction member such as Bernoulli chuck without contact from above, and the support member (for example, a wafer stage) is also from below. It is conceivable to support it with the upper vertical movement pin). However, as a result of the experiments of the inventors, when the wafer is loaded onto the wafer stage by performing non-contact suction from above and support from below, the suction member and support at the time of loading are performed. It has been found that an unacceptable level of distortion may occur even with a 300 mm wafer due to the difference in driving speed from the member.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is a transport system that transports a plate-shaped object to an object mounting portion, and is a holding portion that holds the plate-shaped object, and the holding portion and the object mounting portion. a drive unit for changing the relative position in the vertical direction with a supporting portion for the lower surface of the lower or al supporting lifting of the plate-like object, so that the shape of the object becomes a predetermined shape, wherein the drive unit and the A transport system comprising a control unit that controls a support unit is provided.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is a transport system that transports a plate-shaped object to an object mounting portion, and is a holding portion that holds the plate-shaped object, and the holding portion and the object mounting portion. A drive unit that changes the relative position of the plate-shaped object in the vertical direction, a support portion that supports the lower surface of the plate-shaped object from below, and a shape of the object held by the holding portion so as to have a predetermined shape. , A transport system comprising a control unit that controls at least one of the drive unit and the support unit is provided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the exposure apparatus for forming a pattern on a plate-shaped object, the transfer system according to any one of the first and second aspects, and the object mounted by the transfer system. Provided is an exposure apparatus including a pattern generation apparatus for exposing the plate-shaped object conveyed on a placement portion with an energy beam to form the pattern.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is a device manufacturing method including a lithography step, in which the lithography step is a plate-shaped object having a surface coated with a resist using the exposure apparatus according to the third aspect. A device manufacturing method comprising exposing and developing the exposed plate-like object is provided.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is a transport method for transporting a plate-shaped object to an object mounting portion, in which the plate-shaped object is held by a holding portion and the holding portion is held by a driving portion. and varying the relative position of the object placing section in the vertical direction, the method comprising Ri支lifting by the supporting portion of the lower surface of said plate-like object from below, so that the shape of the object becomes a predetermined shape , the conveying method comprising, the method comprising: controlling the drive unit Contact good beauty before Symbol support portion is provided.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is a transport method for transporting a plate-shaped object to an object mounting portion, in which the plate-shaped object is held by a holding portion and the holding portion is held by a driving portion. The relative position with the object mounting portion is changed in the vertical direction, the lower surface of the plate-shaped object is supported by the support portion from below, and the shape of the object held by the holding portion is predetermined. A transport method comprising controlling at least one of the drive portion and the support portion so as to have the shape of the above is provided.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is an exposure method for forming a pattern on a plate-shaped object, and is conveyed onto the object mounting portion by the transfer method according to any one of the fifth and sixth aspects. An exposure method is provided in which the plate-shaped object is exposed to an energy beam to form the pattern.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there is a device manufacturing method including a lithography step, in which the lithography step is a plate-shaped object having a resist coated on the surface by using the exposure method according to the seventh aspect. A device manufacturing method comprising exposing and developing the exposed plate-like object is provided.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the exposure apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. 2A is a view of the wafer stage of FIG. 1 from the + Z direction (plan view), and FIG. 2B is a view of the wafer stage from the −Y direction (front view). It is a figure which shows the arrangement of an interference meter, an alignment meter, a multi-point AF system, etc. provided in an exposure apparatus with reference to a projection optical system. FIG. 1 is a view (front view) of the carry-in unit and the wafer stage of FIG. 1 as viewed from the −Y direction. FIG. 4 is a view of the chuck unit of FIG. 4 as viewed from the −Z direction. It is a block diagram which shows the input / output relation of the main control apparatus which mainly constitutes the control system of the exposure apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. 7 (A) is a diagram (No. 1) for explaining the wafer loading operation, FIG. 7 (B) is a diagram (No. 2) for explaining the wafer loading operation, and FIG. 7 (C) is. , FIG. 7 (D) for explaining the wafer carrying-in operation is a diagram (No. 4) for explaining the wafer carrying-in operation. 8 (A) is a diagram (No. 5) for explaining the wafer loading operation, FIG. 8 (B) is a diagram (No. 6) for explaining the wafer loading operation, and FIG. 8 (C) is. , FIG. 8 (D) for explaining the wafer carrying-in operation is a diagram (No. 8) for explaining the wafer carrying-in operation. 9 (A) is a diagram (No. 9) for explaining the wafer loading operation, and FIG. 9 (B) is a diagram (No. 10) for explaining the wafer loading operation. It is a figure for demonstrating an example (deformation example) of the structure of the wafer flatness detection system and the chuck unit position detection system. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the operation just before placing a wafer on a wafer stage among the wafer carry-in operations.

Hereinafter, one embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the exposure apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. The exposure apparatus 100 is a step-and-scan projection exposure apparatus, a so-called scanner. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, the projection optical system PL is provided, and in the following, the direction parallel to the optical axis AX of the projection optical system PL is the Z-axis direction, and the reticle is in a plane orthogonal to the Z-axis direction. The direction in which the optics and the wafer are relatively scanned is the Y-axis direction, the direction orthogonal to the Z-axis and the Y-axis is the X-axis direction, and the rotation (tilt) directions around the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are θx and θy, respectively. , And the θz direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure apparatus 100 is separated from the exposure unit 200 arranged at the exposure station arranged near the + Y side end portion on the base board 12 by a predetermined distance from the exposure unit 200 to the −Y side. A measurement unit 300 arranged in the measurement station, a stage device 50 including a wafer stage WST and a measurement stage MST that independently move two-dimensionally in the XY plane on the base board 12, a carry-out unit (not shown), and a wafer described later. It includes a carry-in unit 121 that constitutes a transport system 120 (see FIG. 6) that transports the wafer W together with the support member 125, and a control system and the like thereof. Here, the base board 12 is supported on the floor surface substantially horizontally (parallel to the XY plane) by a vibration isolator (not shown). The base plate 12 is made of a member having a flat plate-like outer shape. Further, inside the base board 12, a coil unit including a plurality of coils 17 arranged in a matrix with the XY two-dimensional directions as the row direction and the column direction, which constitutes the stator of the planar motor (described later), is housed. Has been done. In FIG. 1, a wafer stage WST is located at the exposure station, and the wafer W is held on the wafer stage WST (more specifically, the wafer table WTB described later). Further, the measurement stage MST is located near the exposure station.

The exposure unit 200 includes an illumination system 10, a reticle stage RST, a projection unit PU, a local immersion device 8, and the like.

The illumination system 10 includes, for example, as disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0025890, a light source, an illuminance uniform optical system including an optical integrator, a reticle blind, and the like (all not shown). Including an illumination optical system having. The illumination system 10 illuminates the slit-shaped illumination region IAR on the reticle R set (restricted) by the reticle blind (also referred to as a masking system) with an illumination light (exposure light) IL with substantially uniform illuminance. Here, as the illumination light IL, ArF excimer laser light (wavelength 193 nm) is used as an example.

On the reticle stage RST, a reticle R having a circuit pattern or the like formed on its pattern surface (lower surface in FIG. 1) is fixed, for example, by vacuum suction. The reticle stage RST can be minutely driven in the XY plane by a reticle stage drive system 11 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 6) including, for example, a linear motor or a flat motor, and the scanning direction (paper surface in FIG. 1). It can be driven at a predetermined scanning speed in the Y-axis direction, which is the inner left-right direction.

The position information (including rotation information in the θz direction) of the reticle stage RST in the XY plane is a moving mirror 15 fixed to the reticle stage RST by, for example, a reticle laser interferometer (hereinafter referred to as “reticle interferometer”) 13. In practice, for example, 0 via a Y-moving mirror (or retroreflector) having a reflecting surface orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and an X-moving mirror having a reflecting surface orthogonal to the X-axis direction). It is always detected with a resolution of about .25 nm. The measured value of the reticle interferometer 13 is sent to the main control device 20 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 6). The main control device 20 drives the reticle stage RST via the reticle stage drive system 11 (see FIG. 6) based on the position information of the reticle stage RST. In this embodiment, the position information in the XY plane of the reticle stage RST may be detected by using an encoder instead of the reticle interferometer described above.

The projection unit PU is arranged below the reticle stage RST in FIG. The projection unit PU is supported by a main frame BD horizontally arranged above the base plate 12 via a flange portion FLG provided on the outer peripheral portion thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the mainframe BD is composed of a plate member having a hexagonal shape in a plan view (a shape in which two corners of a rectangle are cut off) whose dimensions in the Y-axis direction are larger than those in the X-axis direction. It is supported on the floor surface by a support member (not shown) including a vibration isolator (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a frame FL having a rectangular frame in a plan view is arranged so as to surround the main frame BD. The frame FL is supported on the floor surface at the same height as the main frame BD by a support member different from the support member that supports the main frame BD. From the vicinity of the -Y side end of the pair of long sides of the frame FL separated in the X-axis direction (the Y position that is almost the same as the loading position LP described later), a pair of L-shaped XZ cross sections (symmetrical) are formed. The extension portion 159 is projected downward (see FIG. 4).

The projection unit PU includes a lens barrel 40 and a projection optical system PL held in the lens barrel 40. As the projection optical system PL, for example, a refraction optical system composed of a plurality of optical elements (lens elements) arranged along an optical axis AX parallel to the Z axis is used. The projection optical system PL is, for example, bilateral telecentric and has a predetermined projection magnification (for example, 1/4 times, 1/5 times, 1/8 times, etc.). Therefore, when the illumination region IAR on the reticle R is illuminated by the illumination light IL from the illumination system 10, the reticle R is arranged so that the first surface (object surface) of the projection optical system PL and the pattern surface substantially coincide with each other. A reduced image of the circuit pattern of the reticle R in the illumination region IAR (a reduced image of a part of the circuit pattern) is generated by the illumination light IL that has passed through the illumination area PL (projection unit PU) via the projection optical system PL. It is formed in a region (hereinafter, also referred to as an exposure region) IA conjugated to the illumination region IAR on the wafer W having a surface coated with a resist (sensitizer), which is arranged on the second surface (image plane) side of the above. .. Then, by synchronously driving the reticle stage RST and the wafer stage WST (more correctly, the fine movement stage WFS described later that holds the wafer W), the reticle R is scanned in the scanning direction (Y-axis) with respect to the illumination region IAR (illumination light IL). By moving the wafer W relative to the exposure region IA (illumination light IL) in the scanning direction (Y-axis direction) while moving the wafer W relative to the exposure region IA (illumination light IL), scanning one shot region (partition region) on the wafer W. Exposure is performed and the pattern of the reticle R is transferred to the shot area. That is, in the present embodiment, the pattern of the reticle R is generated on the wafer W by the illumination system 10 and the projection optical system PL, and the pattern of the reticle R is generated on the wafer W by the exposure of the sensitive layer (resist layer) on the wafer W by the illumination light IL. A pattern is formed.

The local immersion device 8 is provided in response to the exposure device 100 performing immersion type exposure. The local immersion device 8 includes a liquid supply device 5, a liquid recovery device 6 (all not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 6), a nozzle unit 32, and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle unit 32 holds an optical element on the most image plane side (wafer W side) constituting the projection optical system PL, here, a lens (hereinafter, also referred to as “tip lens”) 191. It is suspended and supported by a main frame BD that supports a projection unit PU or the like via a support member (not shown) so as to surround the lower end portion of the lens barrel 40. The nozzle unit 32 has a liquid Lq supply port and a recovery port, a lower surface on which the wafer W is arranged facing each other and a recovery port is provided, and a liquid supply tube 31A and a liquid recovery tube 31B (both not shown in FIG. 1). , FIG. 3) and a supply flow path and a recovery flow path, respectively, which are connected to each other. The liquid supply pipe 31A is connected to the other end of the supply pipe (not shown) having one end connected to the liquid supply device 5 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 6), and the liquid recovery pipe 31B is connected to the other end of the supply pipe (not shown). The other end of a recovery tube (not shown, see FIG. 6), one end of which is connected to the liquid recovery device 6 (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIG. 6), is connected. In the present embodiment, the main control device 20 controls the liquid supply device 5 (see FIG. 6) to supply the liquid between the tip lens 191 and the wafer W via the liquid supply tube 31A and the nozzle unit 32. , The liquid recovery device 6 (see FIG. 6) is controlled to recover the liquid from between the tip lens 191 and the wafer W via the nozzle unit 32 and the liquid recovery tube 31B. At this time, the main control device 20 controls the liquid supply device 5 and the liquid recovery device 6 so that the amount of the supplied liquid and the amount of the recovered liquid are always equal to each other. Therefore, a certain amount of liquid Lq (see FIG. 1) is always exchanged and held between the tip lens 191 and the wafer W. In the present embodiment, pure water through which ArF excimer laser light (light having a wavelength of 193 nm) is transmitted is used as the liquid Lq. The refractive index n of pure water with respect to ArF excimer laser light is approximately 1.44, and the wavelength of the illumination light IL is shortened to 193 nm × 1 / n = about 134 nm in pure water. In FIG. 3, the immersion region formed by the liquid Lq is indicated by reference numeral 36.

Further, even when the measurement stage MST is located below the projection unit PU, it is possible to fill the liquid Lq between the measurement table MTB and the tip lens 191 which will be described later in the same manner as described above.

Here, although the description is mixed, the stage device 50 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the stage apparatus 50 includes a wafer stage WST and a measurement stage MST arranged on the base board 12, and Y interferometers 16 and 19 for measuring the position information of these stages WST and MST. It is equipped with an interferometer system 70 (see FIG. 6) including the interferometer system 70 (see FIG. 6).

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2B, the wafer stage WST is supported by the coarse movement stage WCS and the coarse movement stage WCS in a non-contact state, and is a fine movement stage that can move relative to the coarse movement stage WCS. It has WFS. Here, the wafer stage WST (coarse movement stage WCS) is driven by the rough movement stage drive system 51A (see FIG. 6) with a predetermined stroke in the X-axis and Y-axis directions and is finely driven in the θz direction. Further, the fine movement stage WFS is driven in 6 degrees of freedom directions (X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, θx, θy and θz directions) with respect to the coarse movement stage WCS by the fine movement stage drive system 52A (see FIG. 6). Will be done.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the coarse movement stage WCS is a rectangular plate-shaped coarse movement slider whose length in the X-axis direction (when viewed from the + Z direction) is slightly longer than the length in the Y-axis direction in a plan view. A pair of rectangular plate-shaped side wall portions fixed to the upper surfaces of one end portion and the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the portion 91 and the coarse movement slider portion 91 in a state parallel to the YZ plane and whose longitudinal direction is the Y-axis direction. It includes 92a and 92b, and a pair of stator portions 93a and 93b fixed inward to the central portion of the upper surface of each of the side wall portions 92a and 92b in the Y-axis direction. The side wall portions 92a and 92b may have substantially the same length in the Y-axis direction as the stator portions 93a and 93b. That is, the side wall portions 92a and 92b may be provided only at the central portion in the Y-axis direction of the upper surfaces of the one end portion and the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the coarse movement slider portion 91.

The bottom surface of the coarse motion stage WCS, that is, the bottom surface of the coarse motion slider unit 91, has an XY two-dimensional direction as shown in FIG. 2B, corresponding to the coil unit arranged inside the base plate 12. A magnet unit composed of a plurality of permanent magnets 18 arranged in a matrix in the row direction and the column direction is provided. The magnet unit, together with the coil unit of the base board 12, is a coarse-moving stage drive system 51A (FIG. 5) comprising a flat motor of an electromagnetic force (Lorentz force) drive system disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 5,196,745. 6). The magnitude and direction of the current supplied to each coil 17 (see FIG. 1) constituting the coil unit is controlled by the main controller 20.

A plurality of air bearings 94 are fixed around the magnet unit on the bottom surface of the coarse movement slider portion 91. The coarse movement stage WCS is levitated and supported above the base board 12 by a plurality of air bearings 94 through a predetermined gap (clearance, gap), for example, a gap of about several μm, and is supported by the rough movement stage drive system 51A. It is driven in the axial direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θz direction.

The coarse-moving stage drive system 51A is not limited to a flat motor driven by an electromagnetic force (Lorentz force), and for example, a flat motor driven by a variable magnetoresistance can be used. In addition, the coarse movement stage drive system 51A may be configured by a magnetic levitation type planar motor so that the coarse movement stage WCS can be driven in the direction of six degrees of freedom by the planar motor. In this case, it is not necessary to provide an air bearing on the bottom surface of the coarse movement slider portion 91.

Each of the pair of stator portions 93a and 93b is made of, for example, a member having a rectangular plate shape in outer shape, and coil units CUa and CUb made of a plurality of coils are housed inside each of the stator portions 93a and 93b. The magnitude and direction of the current supplied to each coil constituting the coil units CUa and CUb are controlled by the main control device 20.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the fine movement stage WFS has, for example, a main body 81 made of a columnar member having a low octagonal height in a plan view, and one end and the other end of the main body 81 in the X-axis direction. It is provided with a pair of movable element portions 82a and 82b fixed to each other, and a wafer table WTB composed of a rectangular plate-shaped member in a plan view integrally fixed to the upper surface of the main body portion 81.

It is desirable that the main body 81 is made of a material having the same or similar thermal expansion coefficient as the wafer table WTB, and it is desirable that the material has a low thermal expansion coefficient.

Here, although not shown in FIG. 2B, the main body 81 is inserted into a through hole (not shown) formed in the wafer table WTB (and a wafer holder (not shown) and can move up and down. A plurality of (for example, three) vertical movement pins 140 (see FIG. 4) are provided. An exhaust port (not shown) for vacuum exhaust is formed on the upper surface of each of the three vertical movement pins 140. Further, the lower end surfaces of the three vertical movement pins 140 are fixed to the upper surface of the pedestal member 141. The three vertical movement pins 140 are arranged at positions of the vertices of an equilateral triangle in a plan view of the upper surface of the pedestal member 141, respectively. The exhaust port formed in each of the three vertical movement pins 140 is a vacuum pump (not shown) via an exhaust pipe line formed inside the vertical movement pin 140 (and the pedestal member 141) and a vacuum exhaust pipe (not shown). ) Is communicated. The pedestal member 141 is connected to the drive device 142 via a shaft 143 fixed to the central portion of the lower surface. That is, the three vertical movement pins 140 are driven in the vertical direction by the drive device 142 integrally with the pedestal member 141. In the present embodiment, a wafer center support member (hereinafter, abbreviated as a center support member) capable of supporting a part of the central region of the lower surface of the wafer from below by the pedestal member 141, the three vertical movement pins 140, and the shaft 143. ) 150 is configured. Here, the displacement of the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) in the Z-axis direction from the reference position is, for example, a displacement sensor 145 (not shown in FIG. 4) such as an encoder system provided in the drive device 142. (See FIG. 6). The main control device 20 drives three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) in the vertical direction via the drive device 142 based on the measured values of the displacement sensor 145.

Returning to FIG. 2B, the pair of mover portions 82a and 82b have a housing having a rectangular frame-shaped YZ cross section fixed to one end surface and the other end surface of the main body portion 81 in the X-axis direction, respectively. Hereinafter, for convenience, these housings will be referred to as housings 82a and 82b using the same reference numerals as those of the mover portions 82a and 82b.

The housing 82a has an opening having a rectangular YZ cross section, which is elongated in the Y-axis direction and has both the Y-axis direction dimension (length) and the Z-axis direction dimension (height) slightly longer than the stator portion 93a. There is. The end of the stator portion 93a of the coarse movement stage WCS on the −X side is inserted into the opening of the housing 82a in a non-contact manner. Magnet units MUa ₁ and MUa ₂ are provided inside the upper wall portion 82a ₁ and the bottom wall portion 82a _{2 of the housing 82a.}

The movable element portion 82b is symmetrical with the movable element portion 82a, but has the same configuration. The + X side end of the stator portion 93b of the coarse movement stage WCS is inserted non-contactly into the hollow portion of the housing (movable element portion) 82b. Inside the upper wall portion 82b ₁ and the bottom wall portion 82b ₂ of the housing 82b, magnet units MUb ₁ and MUb ₂ configured in the same manner as the magnet units MUa ₁ and MUa ₂ are provided.

The coil units CUa and CUb described above are housed inside the stator portions 93a and 93b so as to _{face the magnet units MUa 1} , MUa ₂ and MUb ₁ and MUb _{2, respectively.}

The configurations of the magnet units MUa ₁ , MUa ₂ and MUb ₁ , MUb ₂ , and the coil units CUa, CUb are described in, for example, US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0073652 and US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0073653. It is disclosed in detail.

In this embodiment, the coil unit CUa having a pair of magnet units _MUa 1, MUa ₂ and a stator portion 93a that mover section 82a described above, the pair of magnet units _MUb 1 that mover section 82b, MUb ₂ and Similar to the above-mentioned US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0073652 and US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0073653, including the coil unit CUb included in the stator portion 93b, the fine movement stage WFS is a coarse movement stage. A fine movement stage drive system 52A (see FIG. 6) that floats and supports the WCS in a non-contact state and is driven in the direction of 6 degrees of freedom in a non-contact state is configured.

When a magnetic levitation type planar motor is used as the coarse movement stage drive system 51A (see FIG. 6), the fine movement stage WFS is integrated with the coarse movement stage WCS by the planar motor in each of the Z-axis, θx and θy directions. The fine movement stage drive system 52A may be configured to be able to drive the fine movement stage WFS in each direction of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and θz, that is, in the direction of three degrees of freedom in the XY plane. In addition, for example, a pair of electromagnets are provided on each of the pair of side wall portions 92a and 92b of the coarse movement stage WCS so as to face the octagonal hypotenuse of the fine movement stage WFS, and the fine movement stage WFS faces each electric magnet. May be provided with a magnetic material member. In this way, since the fine movement stage WFS can be driven in the XY plane by the magnetic force of the electromagnet, a pair of Y-axis linear motors may be formed by the mover portions 82a and 82b and the stator portions 93a and 93b. ..

A wafer W is fixed to the center of the upper surface of the wafer table WTB by vacuum suction or the like via a wafer holder provided in a wafer holding portion such as a pin chuck (not shown). The wafer holder may be formed integrally with the wafer table WTB, but in the present embodiment, the wafer holder and the wafer table WTB are separately configured, and the wafer holder is fixed in the recess of the wafer table WTB by, for example, vacuum suction. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the upper surface of the wafer table WTB has a surface that has been treated to be liquid-repellent with respect to the liquid Lq, which is substantially the same surface as the surface of the wafer placed on the wafer holder. A plate (liquid repellent plate) 28 having a liquid repellent surface), having a rectangular outer shape (contour), and having a circular opening slightly larger than the wafer holder (wafer mounting area) is provided at the center thereof. ing. Plate 28 is made of a material with a low coefficient of thermal expansion, such as glass or ceramics (e.g. of Schott AG Zerodur (the brand name), Al ₂ O _3, or TiC) consists, on the surface thereof, liquid repellent treatment is performed to the liquid Lq ing. Specifically, the liquid-repellent film is formed of, for example, a fluororesin material, a fluororesin material such as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon (registered trademark)), an acrylic resin material, or a silicon resin material. The plate 28 is fixed to the upper surface of the wafer table WTB so that all (or a part) of the surface thereof is flush with the surface of the wafer W.

A measuring plate 30 is provided in the vicinity of the + Y side end of the plate 28. The measurement plate 30 is provided with a first reference mark FM in the center located on the center line CL of the wafer table WTB, and a second reference mark RM for pairing reticle alignment so as to sandwich the first reference mark FM. However, it is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2A, a plurality of (for example, three) reflectors 86 are provided on the wafer table WTB in the vicinity of the wafer holder. The three reflectors 86 are located close to the −Y side of the wafer holder (positions where the notches of the wafer W face each other on the center line CL, that is, in the plan view at 6 o'clock with respect to the center of the wafer W). One at the position), one at 5 o'clock and one at 7 o'clock with respect to the center of the wafer W in a plan view, symmetrically with respect to the center line CL. In FIG. 2A, the reflecting mirror 86 is shown outside the circular opening of the wafer plate for convenience of illustration, but in reality, the boundary portion between the wafer holder and the circular opening of the plate 28, the plate 28, is shown. It is arranged in the gap with the wafer W. A porous body is provided below these reflectors 86, and the residual liquid Lq on the wafer table WTB that could not be recovered by the liquid recovery device 6 is recovered through the porous body.

The −Y end face and the −X end face of the wafer table WTB are mirror-finished, respectively, to form the reflective surface 17a and the reflective surface 17b shown in FIG. 2 (A).

As shown in FIG. 3, the measurement stage MST includes a stage main body 60 and a measurement table MTB mounted on the stage main body 60.

Although not shown, a measurement stage drive system 51B (see FIG. 6) composed of an electromagnetic force (Lorentz force) drive type planar motor is mounted on the bottom surface of the stage body 60 together with a coil unit (coil 17) of the base board 12. A magnet unit composed of a plurality of permanent magnets is provided. A plurality of air bearings (not shown) are fixed around the magnet unit on the bottom surface of the stage body 60. The measurement stage MST is levitated and supported above the base board 12 through a predetermined gap (gap, clearance), for example, a gap of about several μm by the above-mentioned air bearing, and is supported in the X-axis direction by the measurement stage drive system 51B. It is driven in the Y-axis direction. The measurement stage MST has a coarse movement stage driven in the direction of three degrees of freedom in the XY plane and a fine movement stage driven by the remaining three degrees of freedom (or six degrees of freedom) with respect to the coarse movement stage. It may be a structure. When the measurement stage drive system 51B is composed of a magnetic levitation type planar motor, for example, the measurement stage may be a single stage that can move in the direction of 6 degrees of freedom.

The measurement table MTB is composed of members having a rectangular shape in a plan view. The measurement table MTB is provided with various measurement members. Examples of the measuring member include an illuminance unevenness sensor 88 having a pinhole-shaped light receiving portion that receives illumination light IL on the image plane of the projection optical system PL, and a spatial image of a pattern projected by the projection optical system PL. A spatial image measuring instrument 96 for measuring the light intensity of the projected image) and a wavefront aberration measuring instrument 89 are adopted. As the illuminance unevenness sensor, for example, a sensor having the same configuration as that disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,465,368 can be used. Further, as the spatial image measuring instrument, for example, one having the same configuration as that disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0041377 can be used. Further, as the wavefront aberration measuring instrument, for example, an instrument having the same configuration as that disclosed in International Publication No. 03/065422 (corresponding US Pat. No. 7,230,682) can be used. .. In addition to the above sensors, an illuminance monitor having a light receiving portion having a predetermined area for receiving the illumination light IL on the image plane of the projection optical system PL, for example, disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0061469. May be adopted.

In this embodiment, the surface of the measurement table MTB (which may include the above-mentioned measurement member) is also covered with a liquid-repellent film (water-repellent film).

The measurement table MTB is mirror-finished on the + Y side surface and the −X side surface, respectively, and the same reflective surfaces 95a and 95b as the above-mentioned wafer table WTB are formed.

Next, the interferometer system 70 that measures the position information of the wafer stage WST and the measurement stage MST will be described.

The interferometer system 70 (see FIG. 6) is a plurality of interferometers that measure the position information of the wafer stage WST (wafer table WTB) or the measurement stage MST (measurement table MTB), specifically, two Y interferometers 16. , 19, and four X interferometers 136, 137, 138, 139, and the like. In the present embodiment, as each of the above-mentioned interferometers, a multi-axis interferometer having a plurality of measurement axes is used, except for a part.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the Y interferometer 16 is a straight line (hereinafter referred to as a reference axis) LV parallel to the Y axis passing through the projection center (optical axis AX, see FIG. 1) of the projection optical system PL. _{The length measuring beams B4 1} and B4 ₂ are irradiated on the reflecting surface 17a of the wafer table WTB along the length measuring axis in the Y-axis direction, which are the same distance from (see FIG. 3) to the −X side and the + X side, and their respective reflections are made. Receives light. Further, the Y interferometer 16 is provided along the length measuring axis parallel to the Y axis (for example, the length measuring axis on the reference axis LV) with a predetermined interval between _{the length measuring beams B4 1} and B4 _{2 in the Z axis direction.} The length measuring beam B3 is irradiated toward the reflecting surface 17a, and the length measuring beam B3 reflected by the reflecting surface 17a is received.

The Y interferometer 19 has two length measuring beams B2 along the length measuring axis in the Y axis direction separated from the reference axis LV by, for example, the same distance −X side and + X side with respect to the reflecting surface 95a of the measuring table MTB. _{Irradiate 1} and B2 ₂ and receive the reflected light of each.

As shown in FIG. 3, the X-interferometer 136 has a length-measuring beam along two axis-measurement axes separated by the same distance with respect to a straight line (reference axis) LH in the X-axis direction passing through the optical axis of the projection optical system PL. B5 ₁ and B5 ₂ are irradiated on the reflecting surface 17b of the wafer table WTB, and the reflected light of each is received.

As shown in FIG. 3, the X interferometer 137 irradiates the reflection surface 17b of the wafer table WTB with the length measuring beam B6 along a straight line LA parallel to the X axis passing through the detection center of the primary alignment system AL1 described later. , Receives reflected light.

The X interferometer 138 irradiates the reflection surface 17b of the wafer table WTB with the length measuring beam B7 along a straight line LUL parallel to the X axis passing through the loading position LP in which the wafer is loaded, and receives the reflected light.

The X interferometer 139 irradiates the reflecting surface 95b with a length measuring beam parallel to the X axis and receives the reflected light.

The measured values (measurement results of position information) of each interferometer of the interferometer system 70 are supplied to the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6). The main control device 20 obtains position information regarding the Y-axis direction, the θx direction, and the θz direction of the wafer table WTB based on the measured values of the Y interferometer 16. Further, the main control device 20 obtains position information regarding the X-axis direction of the wafer table WTB based on the output of any of the X interferometers 136, 137 and 138. The main control device 20 may obtain the position information regarding the θz direction of the wafer table WTB based on the measured value of the X interferometer 136.

Further, the main control device 20 obtains position information regarding the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the θz direction of the measurement table MTB (measurement stage MST) based on the measured values of the Y-interferometer 19 and the X-interferometer 139.

In addition, the interferometer system 70 emits a pair of length-measuring beams parallel to a pair of Y-axis separated in the Z-axis direction, and a pair of upper and lower reflecting surfaces of a moving mirror fixed to the side surface on the −Y side of the coarse motion stage WCS. The Z interferometers that illuminate the pair of fixed mirrors via each and receive the return light from the pair of fixed mirrors via the reflecting surface are separated from the reference axis LV by the same distance to the -X side and + X side. It is equipped with a Z interferometer system arranged in the same manner. Based on the measured values of this Z-interferometer system, the main controller 20 obtains the position information of the wafer stage WST with respect to at least three degrees of freedom directions including the Z-axis, θy, and θz directions.

A detailed configuration of the interferometer system 70 and an example of details of the measurement method are disclosed in detail in, for example, US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/01067222.

Although the interferometer system is used in this embodiment to measure the information regarding the positions of the wafer stage WST and the measurement stage MST, another means may be used. For example, it is also possible to use an encoder system as described in US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0297562.

Returning to FIG. 1, the measurement unit 300 includes an alignment device 99 mounted on the lower surface of the main frame BD, and other measurement systems.

The alignment device 99 includes five alignment systems AL1 and AL2 _{1 to AL2 4 shown} in FIG. More specifically, it passes through the center of the projection unit PU (the optical axis AX of the projection optical system PL, which also coincides with the center of the above-mentioned exposure region IA in the present embodiment) and on the reference axis LV from the optical axis AX to the −Y side. The primary alignment system AL1 is arranged at a position separated by a predetermined distance with the detection center located. _{The secondary alignment systems AL2 1} and AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃ and AL2 ₄ whose detection centers are arranged almost symmetrically with respect to the reference axis LV are located on one side and the other side in the X-axis direction with the primary alignment system AL1 in between. Each is provided. That is, the detection centers of the five alignment systems AL1, AL2 _{1 to AL2 4} are arranged along the X-axis direction. In addition, in FIG. 1, five alignment systems AL1, AL2 _{1 to AL2 4} and a holding device for holding them are included and shown as an alignment device 99.

Each of the five alignment systems AL1, AL2 _{1 to AL2 4} irradiates the target mark with a broadband detection light beam that does not expose the resist on the wafer, and is imaged on the light receiving surface by the reflected light from the target mark. An image in which an image of a target mark and an image of an index (index pattern on an index plate provided in each alignment system) (an index pattern provided in each alignment system) are imaged using an image pickup device (CCD, etc.) and the image pickup signals are output. The FIA (Field Image Alignment) system of the processing method is used. The imaging signals from the five alignment systems AL1, AL2 _{1 to AL2 4} are supplied to the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6). The detailed configuration of the alignment device 99 is disclosed in, for example, US Patent Application Publication No. 2009/02333234.

The carry-in unit 121 (see FIG. 1), which forms part of the transport system 120, holds the unexposed wafer above the loading position LP prior to loading onto the wafer table WTB and onto the wafer table WTB. It is for loading into. Further, the carry-out unit (not shown) is for unloading the wafer after exposure from the wafer table WTB.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the carry-in unit 121 is composed of a plate-shaped member having a circular shape in a plan view (viewed from above), and has a chuck unit 153 and a chuck unit 153 that suck the wafer W from above in a non-contact manner. A pair of Z voice coil motors 144, a pair of Z voice coil motors 144, a plurality of supporting the weight of the chuck unit 153, for example, a pair of weight canceling devices 131, and a pair of supporting the wafer W sucked by the chuck unit 153 from below. It has a wafer support member 125 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, the chuck unit 153 includes, for example, a plate member (plate) 44 having a circular shape in a plan view and a plurality of chuck members 124 embedded in the lower surface of the plate member 44 in a predetermined arrangement. It is equipped with. Here, the plate member 44 is provided with a pipe or the like inside thereof, and also serves as a cool plate for controlling the temperature of the wafer to a predetermined temperature by flowing a liquid whose temperature has been adjusted to a predetermined temperature in the pipe. And. However, the plate member 44 does not necessarily have to also serve as a cool plate.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, which is a plan view of the chuck unit 153 viewed from the −Z direction, the plate member 44 is a disk-shaped first member 44A and concentric circles arranged outside the first member 44A. The two members together with the annular second member 44B are integrated. However, it is not always necessary to arrange the two members concentrically. Further, the plate member does not necessarily have to be composed of two members.

On the lower surface of the first member 44A, chuck members 124 are arranged at a central point (center point) and at a plurality of (for example, 19) points at equal intervals on a virtual double concentric circle around the center point. Has been done. More specifically, the chuck member 124 is arranged at each of the six points at intervals of 60 degrees on the inner virtual circle, and the central point and each of the above six points are placed on the outer virtual circle. Chuck members 124 are arranged at each of the 12 points at intervals of a central angle of 30 degrees, including 6 points on the connected straight line. The lower surface of each of the plurality of, 19 chuck members 124 is embedded in the lower surface of the plate member 44 in a state of being flush with the lower surface of the plate member 44 (see FIG. 4). The arrangement of the chuck members is not limited to this, and it is not always necessary to arrange the chuck members at equal intervals.

Each chuck member 124 comprises a so-called Bernoulli chuck. As is well known, the Bernoulli chuck is a chuck that uses the Bernoulli effect to locally increase the flow velocity of the ejected fluid (for example, air) to suck (hold in a non-contact manner) an object. Here, the Bernoulli effect means that the pressure of the fluid decreases as the flow velocity increases, and in Bernoulli chuck, suction is performed by the weight of the object to be sucked (held, fixed) and the flow velocity of the fluid ejected from the chuck. The state (holding / floating state) is determined. That is, when the size of the object is known, the size of the gap between the chuck and the holding object at the time of suction is determined according to the flow velocity of the fluid ejected from the chuck. In the present embodiment, the chuck member 124 ejects gas from its gas flow hole (for example, a nozzle or a ejection port) to generate a gas flow (gas flow) around the wafer W and suck the wafer W. Used for. The degree of suction force (that is, the flow velocity of the ejected gas, etc.) can be adjusted as appropriate, and the wafer W is sucked and held by the chuck member 124 to limit movement in the Z-axis direction, θx, and θy directions. can do.

The plurality (19 pieces) of the chuck members 124 have the flow velocity, flow rate, ejection direction (gas ejection direction), etc. of the gas ejected from each of the chuck members 124 by the main control device 20 via the adjusting device 115 (see FIG. 6). At least one of is controlled. As a result, the suction force of each chuck member 124 is individually set to an arbitrary value. In addition, a plurality of (19 pieces) chuck members 124 may be configured so that the suction force can be set for each predetermined group. The main control device 20 may control the temperature of the gas.

As shown in FIG. 5, the first member 44A is formed with a plurality of narrow (elongated) through holes 152 that surround each of the plurality of chuck members 124. Specifically, a part of the plurality of through holes 152 is arranged to form each side of a hexagon surrounding each of the seven chuck members 124 excluding the twelve chuck members 124 located on the outer peripheral portion. .. The remaining part of the through hole 152 is arranged so as to surround the central half of the twelve chuck members 124 located on the outer peripheral portion together with a part of the part of the through hole 152. .. As will be described later, when the wafer W is sucked by the chuck member 124, the fluid (for example, air) ejected from the chuck member 124 toward the wafer W is externally (above the chuck unit 153) through the through hole 152. ).

A plurality of (for example, 12) through holes 154 are formed on the outside of each of the 12 chuck members 124 located on the outer peripheral portion of the first member 44A in the vicinity of the inner peripheral portion of the second member 44B. A porous bearing 156 made of a ceramic porous body is provided in each through hole 154. Each of the plurality (for example, 12) of porous bearings 156 is connected to a gas supply device 48 (see FIG. 6) including, for example, a compressor or the like via a pipe (not shown). At the time of suction of the wafer W described later by the chuck unit 153, the gas supplied from the gas supply device 48 (for example, pressurized air) is ejected downward (toward the wafer W) from each porous bearing 156 to form a wafer. W is prevented from coming into contact with the chuck unit 153. The pressure, flow rate, etc. of the gas supplied to each porous bearing 156 are controlled by the main controller 20 (see FIG. 6). If there is no risk of contact with the wafer W, the chuck unit 153 may not be provided with the porous bearing 156.

Here, the gas supplied to the chuck member 124 is supplied with clean air (for example, compressed air) whose temperature is adjusted to at least constant and dust, particles, and the like are removed. That is, the wafer W sucked by the chuck member 124 is kept at a predetermined temperature by the temperature-controlled compressed air. Further, the temperature, cleanliness, etc. of the space in which the wafer stage WST or the like is arranged can be kept within the set range.

As shown in FIG. 4, one ends of each pair of support plates 151 extending in the X-axis direction in the horizontal plane (XY plane) are connected to both ends of the upper surface of the chuck unit 153 in the X-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, the Z voice coil motor 144 and the weight canceling device 131 are fixed side by side in the X-axis direction on the upper surface of each of the pair of extending portions 159 of the frame FL described above. In this case, the weight canceling device 131 is arranged inside the Z voice coil motor 144, but it is not necessary to be limited to this.

The other end of each of the pair of support plates 151 is supported from below by the weight canceling device 131 fixed to the upper surface of each of the pair of extension portions 159 and the Z voice coil motor 144.

Each of the pair of Z voice coil motors 144 has a predetermined stroke in the vertical direction of the chuck unit 153 (the first position where the chuck unit 153 starts sucking the wafer W and the wafer W sucked by the chuck unit 153 are the wafer holders (the first position). It is driven in a range including the second position placed on the wafer table WTB). Each of the pair of Z voice coil motors 144 is controlled by the main controller 20 (see FIG. 6).

Each of the pair of weight canceling devices 131 includes a piston member 133a and a cylinder 133b in which the piston member 133a is slidably provided. The pressure in the space inside the cylinder 133b partitioned by the piston of the piston member 133a and the cylinder 133b is set to a value corresponding to the own weight of the chuck unit 153. The upper end of the rod portion of the piston member 133a is connected to the lower surface of the support plate 151. Each of the pair of weight canceling devices 131 is a kind of air spring device, and an upward (+ Z direction) force is applied to the support plate 151 via the piston member 133a, whereby the pair of weight canceling devices 131 causes the pair of weight canceling devices 131 to exert an upward force. , All or part of the weight of the chuck unit 153 (and the support plate 151) is supported. The pressure and amount of the pressurized gas supplied to the inside of the cylinder 133b of the weight canceling device 131 are controlled by the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6). Here, since the weight canceling device 131 includes a piston member 133a that moves in the vertical direction along the cylinder 133b, it also serves as a guide for the vertical movement of the chuck unit 153.

Each of the pair of wafer support members 125 has a vertical motion rotation drive unit 127 and a vertical motion rotation drive unit 127 integrally attached to each of the pair of extension portions 159 of the frame FL via a connection member (not shown). A drive shaft 126 driven in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) and the θz direction, and a support plate 128 having one end in the longitudinal direction of the upper surface fixed to the lower end surface of the drive shaft 126 and extending in the uniaxial direction in the XY plane. It is equipped with. The support plate 128 has a first support plate position in which the other end in the longitudinal direction faces a part of the outer peripheral portion of the chuck unit 153 and a second support plate position in which the other end thereof does not face the chuck unit 153 by the vertical rotation drive unit 127. In addition to being rotationally driven in the θz direction with the drive shaft 126 as the center of rotation, it is also driven in the vertical direction with a predetermined stroke. A suction pad 128b is fixed to the upper surface of the support plate 128 near the other end. The suction pad 128b is connected to the vacuum device via a piping member (not shown) (the vacuum device and the piping member are not shown). When the wafer W is supported from below by the support plate 128 (suction pad 128b), the wafer W is vacuum sucked and held by the suction pad 128b. That is, the movement of the wafer W in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θz direction is restricted by the frictional force between the wafer W and the suction pad 128b. The frictional force between the wafer W and the wafer support member 125 may be used without providing the suction pad 128b.

When the support plate 128 of one wafer support member 125 is in the first support plate position, the support plate 128 faces the outer peripheral edge in the direction of 5 o'clock when viewed from the center of the plate member 44 of the chuck unit 153, and the other wafer support member 125 When the support plate 128 is in the position of the first support plate, the first support plate 128 faces the outer peripheral edge in the 7 o'clock direction when viewed from the center of the plate member 44 of the chuck unit 153 (see FIG. 3). The board position is set. A reflector 128a is fixed to the upper surface of each support plate 128 on the drive shaft 126 side of the suction pad 128b.

When the pair of support plates 128 are in the first support plate position, a pair of epi-illumination type measurement systems 123a, which can irradiate illumination light from above with respect to each of the reflectors 128a on the respective support plates 128, 123b is provided in the vicinity of the pair of wafer support members 125. The pair of measurement systems 123a and 123b are connected to the mainframe BD via support members (not shown), respectively.

Each of the pair of measurement systems 123a and 123b is an image processing type edge position detection system that detects the position information of the edge portion of the wafer W, and includes an illumination light source, an optical path bending member such as a plurality of reflectors, a lens, and the like. Includes image pickup elements such as CCD.

The carry-in unit 121 is located at a predetermined height facing the outer peripheral edge in the 6 o'clock direction when viewed from the center of the plate member 44 of the chuck unit 153 (when the wafer W is sucked into the chuck unit 153, the notch of the wafer is formed. Another reflector 34 is further provided at a position (position that can face the above) (see FIG. 3). An epi-illumination type measurement system 123c (see FIG. 6) capable of irradiating the reflecting mirror 34 with illumination light from above is provided. The measurement system 123c is configured in the same manner as the measurement systems 123a and 123b.

When the edge detection of the wafer W is performed by the three measurement systems 123a to 123c, the imaging signals thereof are sent to the signal processing system 116 (see FIG. 6).

The carry-in unit 121 further includes a wafer flatness detection system 147 (see FIG. 6) and a plurality of chuck unit position detection systems 148 (see FIGS. 4 and 6).

The wafer flatness detection system 147 is a plurality of wafer flatness detection systems 147 arranged at a plurality of locations on the mainframe BD, for example, three locations above the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W and one location above near the center portion, in which four wafer W surfaces Z. It is composed of a Z position detection system 146 (see FIG. 4) that detects an axial position (Z position). In the present embodiment, the Z position detection system 146 is a kind of so-called optical displacement meter that receives the reflected light of the measurement beam irradiating the object and detects the position of the object (Z position in the present embodiment). A certain triangulation type position detection system is used. In the present embodiment, in each Z position detection system 146, the measurement beam is irradiated to the upper surface of the wafer W through the through hole 152 (see FIG. 5) described above, and the reflected light is received through another through hole 152. do.

The measured values of the plurality of Z position detection systems 146 constituting the wafer flatness detection system 147 are sent to the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6). The main control device 20 detects Z positions at a plurality of locations on the upper surface of the wafer W based on the measured values of the plurality of Z position detection systems 146, and obtains the flatness of the wafer W from the detection results.

A plurality (for example, three) of chuck unit position detection systems 148 are fixed to the main frame BD. As each of the chuck unit position detection systems 148, the same triangulation type position detection system as the Z position detection system 146 is used. The three chuck unit position detection systems 148 detect the Z positions at a plurality of locations on the upper surface of the chuck unit 153, and the detection results are sent to the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6).

Although not shown in FIG. 1, projection optics of a pair of reticle alignment marks on the reticle R and a pair of second reference marks RM on the measurement plate 30 on the corresponding wafer table WTB above the reticle R. A pair of TTR (Through The Reticle) type reticle alignment detection systems 14 (see FIG. 6) using an exposure wavelength for simultaneously observing an image via the system PL are arranged. The detection signal of the pair of reticle alignment detection systems 14 is supplied to the main control device 20.

In addition, in the exposure apparatus 100, in the vicinity of the projection optical system PL, an irradiation system that irradiates a plurality of measurement beams on the surface of the wafer W via the liquid Lq in the immersion region 36, and a liquid Lq for each reflected beam. A multi-point focal position detection system 54 (see FIG. 6) (hereinafter referred to as a multi-point AF system) including a light receiving system that receives light via the light receiving system is provided. As the multipoint AF system 54, for example, the irradiation system and the light receiving system disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2007-0064212 each include a prism, and both include a tip lens of a projection optical system PL as a component thereof. It is possible to use a multi-point focal position detection system having the above configuration.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram showing an input / output relationship of a main control device 20 that mainly configures the control system of the exposure apparatus 100 and controls each component in an integrated manner. The main control device 20 includes a workstation (or a microprocessor) and the like, and controls each component of the exposure device 100 in an integrated manner.

In the exposure apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, under the control of the main control apparatus 20, for example, as in the exposure apparatus disclosed in US Pat. No. 8,0544,472. A parallel processing operation using the wafer stage WST and the measurement stage MST is performed. In the exposure apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the immersion region 36 is provided on the wafer W, which is loaded (carried) on the wafer stage WST as described later and held by the wafer table WTB, by using the local immersion device 8. The wafer is exposed by the illumination light IL via the projection optical system PL and the liquid Lq of the immersion region 36. This exposure operation is the result of wafer alignment (EGA) by _{the alignment system AL1, AL2 1 to AL2 4} of the alignment device 99 performed in advance by the main control device, and the latest base of the _{alignment systems AL1, AL2 1 to AL2 4.} An inter-shot movement operation for moving the wafer stage WST to a scanning start position (acceleration start position) for exposure of each shot area on the wafer W based on a line or the like, and scanning a reticle R pattern for each shot area. It is performed by repeating the scanning exposure operation of transferring by the exposure method. Further, in the above-mentioned parallel processing operation, the immersion region is held on the measurement stage MST during the wafer exchange, and when the wafer stage WST is arranged directly under the projection unit PU by the exchange with the measurement stage, the measurement stage. The immersion region on the MST is moved onto the wafer stage WST.

However, in the present embodiment, unlike the exposure apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned US Pat. No. 8,054,472, the position of the wafer stage WST during the parallel processing operation using the wafer stage WST and the measurement stage MST. Information and position information of the measurement stage MST are measured using each interferometer of the interferometer system 70. Further, reticle alignment is performed using a pair of reticle alignment detection systems 14 (see FIG. 6), a measurement plate 30 on the wafer stage WST (see FIG. 2A), and the like. Further, the control regarding the Z-axis direction of the wafer table WTB during exposure is performed in real time by using the above-mentioned multipoint AF system 54.

Similar to the exposure apparatus disclosed in US Pat. No. 8,054,472, instead of the multipoint AF system 54, an irradiation system and a light receiving system are placed between the alignment device 99 and the projection unit PU. It is also possible to arrange a multi-point AF system composed of. Then, while the wafer stage WST is moving at the time of wafer alignment, the Z position of the entire surface of the wafer W is acquired by using the multipoint AF system, and the surface of the wafer W acquired during the alignment is acquired. The position of the wafer stage WST during exposure may be controlled in the Z-axis direction based on the Z position of the entire surface. In this case, it is necessary to provide another measuring device for measuring the Z position on the upper surface of the wafer table WTB at the time of wafer alignment and the time of exposure.

Next, the procedure for loading the wafer W will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (A) to 9 (B). In FIGS. 7A to 9B, the wafer stage WST excluding the mainframe BD, the vertical movement pin 140, etc., the wafer flatness detection system 147, and the wafer flatness detection system 147 are shown in order to simplify the drawings and prevent the drawings from being complicated. The chuck unit position detection system 148 and the like are omitted.

As a premise, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, the chuck unit 153 is located near the movement upper limit position (+ Z side movement limit position) within the stroke range by the pair of Z voice coil motors 144, that is, as described above. It is assumed that it has been moved to the first position and maintained at that position. Further, at this time, it is assumed that each of the support plates 128 of the pair of wafer support members 125 is set at the second support plate position by the main control device 20.

In this state, first, the wafer W is carried under the chuck unit 153 in a state of being supported from below by the transport arm 149. Here, the wafer W is carried into the loading position LP by the transfer arm 149 when the exposure process for the previous wafer to be exposed (hereinafter referred to as the previous wafer) is performed on the wafer stage WST. It may be performed, or it may be performed when the alignment process or the like is being performed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the main control device 20 starts supplying fluid (air) to the plurality of chuck members 124, and then slightly raises the transfer arm 149 (or the chuck unit 153). The wafer W is sucked into the chuck unit 153 (chuck member 124) in a non-contact manner while maintaining a predetermined distance (gap). It should be noted that in FIG. 7B, for ease of explanation, the wafer is due to the flow of blown air (more precisely, the negative pressure generated by that flow), which is indicated by the fill of dots in the figure. It is assumed that W is sucked into the chuck unit 153. The same applies to each of the figures of FIGS. 7 (C) to 9 (A). However, the state of the air actually blown out is not necessarily limited to these.

Next, the main control device 20 drives (rotates) the support plates 128 of the pair of wafer support members 125 via the vertical movement rotation drive unit 127 so as to be located at the positions of the first support plates. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7C, the suction pads 128b on the upper surface of each support plate 128 face the lower surface (back surface) of the wafer W by the vertical rotation drive unit 127 of the pair of wafer support members 125. It is moved to the position to be. Further, in a state where the support plates 128 of the pair of wafer support members 125 are located at the respective first support plate positions, the reflectors 128a face each other at predetermined positions on the outer peripheral edge of the back surface of the wafer W. Further, another reflecting mirror 34 faces the notch position on the back surface of the wafer W when the wafer W is sucked by the chuck unit 153.

When the suction pad 128b on the upper surface of each support plate 128 and the wafer W face each other, the main control device 20 causes the vertical rotation drive unit 127 to raise the support plate 128 as shown in FIG. 7 (D). Control. When the suction pad 128b on the upper surface of each support plate 128 and the lower surface of the wafer W come into contact with each other, the main control device 20 starts vacuum suction by the pair of suction pads 128b, and the lower surface of the wafer W is touched by the respective suction pads 128b. Supports suction. At this time, the wafer W is restricted from moving in the three degrees of freedom direction of Z, θx, and θy by suction from above by the chuck unit 153, and X, by suction support from below by the pair of support plates 128. The movement of Y and θz in the three degrees of freedom direction is restricted, and thereby the movement in the six degrees of freedom direction is restricted.

The processing sequence of the exposure apparatus 100 is such that the wafer W stands by on the loading position LP in this state, that is, in a state where suction holding (support) is performed by the chuck unit 153 and the pair of wafer support members 125. It has been decided. In the exposure apparatus 100, while the wafer W is waiting at the loading position LP, an exposure process (and an alignment process prior to the exposure process) for the front wafer held on the wafer table WTB is performed. Further, at this time, the vacuum suction of the wafer W by the transfer arm 149 may be stopped.

Then, while the wafer W is waiting on the loading position LP, as shown in FIG. 8A, the wafer W is formed by three measurement systems 123a to 123c (measurement systems 123c are not shown. See FIG. 6). Edge detection is performed. The image pickup signals of the image pickup elements included in the three measurement systems 123a to 123c are sent to the signal processing system 116 (see FIG. 6). The signal processing system 116 detects the position information of the peripheral portion including the notch of the wafer by the method disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 6,624,433, and detects the position information of the peripheral portion including the notch of the wafer, and X-axis of the wafer W. The positional deviation in the direction and the Y-axis direction and the rotation (θz rotation) error are obtained. Then, the information on the misalignment and the rotation error is supplied to the main control device 20 (see FIG. 6).

Before and after the start of edge detection of the wafer W described above, the main control device 20 drives the transfer arm 149 downward to separate the transfer arm 149 from the wafer W, and then moves the transfer arm 149 from the loading position LP. Evacuate.

When the exposure process of the front wafer is completed and the front wafer is unloaded from the wafer table WTB by an unloading device (not shown), the main control device 20 causes the wafer stage WST to chuck unit via the roughing stage drive system 51A. It is moved below 153 (loading position LP). Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the main control device 20 drives the center support member 150 having the three vertical movement pins 140 upward via the drive device 142. Even at this point, the edge detection of the wafer W by the three measurement systems 123a to 123c is continued, and the main control device 20 shifts the position of the wafer W so that the wafer W is mounted at a predetermined position on the wafer stage WST. Based on the rotation error information, the wafer stage WST is minutely driven in the same direction by the same amount as the displacement amount (error) of the wafer W.

Then, when the upper surfaces of the three vertical movement pins 140 come into contact with the lower surface of the wafer W sucked by the chuck unit 153, the main control device 20 stops the ascent of the center support member 150. As a result, the wafer W is attracted and held by the three vertical moving pins 140 in a state where the positional deviation and the rotation error are corrected.

Here, the Z position of the wafer W sucked by the chuck unit 153 in the standby position can be known to some extent accurately. Therefore, the main control device 20 drives the center support member 150 from the reference position by a predetermined amount based on the measurement result of the displacement sensor 145, so that the three vertical movement pins 140 are attracted to the chuck unit 153. Can be brought into contact with the lower surface of the. However, not limited to this, at the upper limit movement position of the center support member 150 (three vertical movement pins 140), the three vertical movement pins 140 come into contact with the lower surface of the wafer W sucked by the chuck unit 153. , May be set in advance.

After that, the main control device 20 operates a vacuum pump (not shown) to start vacuum suction to the lower surface of the wafer W by the three vertical moving pins 140. The suction of the wafer W by the chuck member 124 is continued even in this state. The wafer W is restricted from moving in the six degrees of freedom direction due to the suction by the chuck member 124 and the frictional force due to the support from below the three vertical movement pins 140. Therefore, in this state, no problem occurs even if the adsorption and holding of the wafer W by the support plate 128 of the wafer support member 125 is released.

Therefore, when the wafer W is supported (suctioned and held) by the three vertical movement pins 140, the main control device 20 ends the vacuum suction by the pair of suction pads 128b as shown in FIG. 8C. After that, the support plates 128 of the pair of wafer support members 125 are driven downward to be separated from the wafer W. After that, each support plate 128 is set at the position of the second support plate via the vertical movement rotation drive unit 127.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8D, the main control device 20 has a pair of a chuck unit 153 that sucks and supports the wafer W and three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150), respectively. It is driven downward via the Z voice coil motor 144 and the drive device 142. As a result, the chuck unit 153 and the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) are maintained in the suction state by the chuck unit 153 (chuck member 124) and the support state by the three vertical movement pins 140 with respect to the wafer W. ) And start driving downward. Here, the chuck unit 153 is driven by the main control device 20 driving a pair of Z voice coil motors 144 based on the detection results of the plurality of chuck unit position detection systems 148.

The above-mentioned chuck unit 153 and the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) are driven until the lower surface (back surface) of the wafer W abuts on the flat wafer mounting surface 41 of the wafer table WTB. (See FIG. 9 (A)). Here, the wafer mounting surface 41 is actually a virtual flat surface (region) formed by the upper end surfaces of a large number of pins included in the pin chuck provided on the wafer table WTB. In 9 (A) and the like, it is assumed that the upper surface of the wafer table WTB is the wafer mounting surface 41.

Before and during the downward drive start of the chuck unit 153 and the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) described above, the main control device 20 uses the wafer flatness detection system 147 (multiple Z position detections). The flatness of the upper surface of the wafer W is measured via the system 146 (see FIG. 4). Then, the main control device 20 is excellent in responsiveness among the chuck unit 153 and the center support member 150 based on the measurement result of the wafer flatness detection system 147 so that the flatness of the wafer W is within a desired range. The descent speed of one of the members (here, it is assumed to be the center support member 150) is controlled with respect to the descent speed of the other member (here, it is assumed to be the chuck unit 153).

That is, for example, when it is detected by the wafer flatness detection system 147 that the wafer W is deformed into a downwardly convex shape (a shape in which the inner peripheral portion is recessed as compared with the outer peripheral portion), the main control device 20 , The lowering speed of the center support member 150 via the drive device 142 is made slower than the drive speed of the chuck unit 153. When the lowering speed of the center support member 150 is made slower than the driving speed of the chuck unit 153, the wafer W is substantially pushed at the center of the lower surface by the three vertical movement pins 140 from below. Then, when the flatness of the wafer W reaches a predetermined value, the main control device 20 drives the center support member 150 and the chuck unit 153 further downward (synchronously) at the same speed. Here, "the flatness of the wafer W becomes a predetermined value" means that, for example, the wafer W is not a perfect flat surface and the inner peripheral portion is recessed as compared with the outer peripheral portion, but the degree of the recess is predetermined. It means that it is transformed into a shape that is less than or equal to the degree.

Further, for example, when the wafer flatness detection system 147 detects that the wafer W is deformed into an upwardly convex shape (a shape in which the inner peripheral portion protrudes upward as compared with the outer peripheral portion), the main control device. 20 makes the descending speed of the center support member 150 faster than the driving speed of the chuck unit 153 via the driving device 142. When the lowering speed of the center support member 150 is made faster than the driving speed of the chuck unit 153, the wafer W is attracted and held by the three vertical moving pins 140, so that the central portion of the lower surface is substantially pulled downward. Then, when the flatness of the wafer W reaches the predetermined value, the main control device 20 drives the center support member 150 and the chuck unit 153 further downward (synchronously) at the same speed.

In the present embodiment, the positions of the wafer W in the Z direction are detected at a plurality of points of the wafer W, and the information on the shape (flatness) of the wafer W is obtained from the information on these positions, but other than that. The method of may be used. For example, an image of the wafer W may be taken with a camera or the like, and information on the shape (flatness) of the wafer W may be obtained from the obtained image information.

In the present embodiment, the main control device 20 sucks the wafer W from above with the chuck unit 153 and supports it from below with the vertical moving pin 140 until the wafer W is sucked and held on a wafer holder (not shown). , The deformation state (flatness) of the wafer W is always measured by using the wafer flatness detection system 147. Therefore, for example, since the wafer W between the chuck unit 153 and the three vertical moving pins 140 has a downwardly convex shape, the chuck unit 153 is lowered in order to adjust its flatness. As a result of slowing down the descent speed of the vertical movement pin 140 with respect to the speed, the descent speed of the chuck unit 153 is increased even when the wafer W has an upwardly convex shape and excessive flatness correction is performed. On the other hand, the flatness of the wafer W can be adjusted to a predetermined value again by increasing the descent speed of the vertical movement pin 140. However, a part of the time period from the state where the wafer W is sucked from above by the chuck unit 153 and supported by the vertical moving pin 140 from below until the wafer W is sucked and held on a wafer holder (not shown) ( For example, the deformed state (flatness) of the wafer W may be measured only just before the wafer mounting surface 41 is in contact with the wafer mounting surface 41.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the lower surface of the wafer W comes into contact with the upper surface of the wafer table WTB (wafer mounting surface 41), the main control device 20 causes all the chuck members via the adjusting device 115. The outflow of the high-pressure air flow from 124 is stopped, the suction of the wafer W by all the chuck units 153 is released, and the suction (suction) of the wafer W by the wafer holder (not shown) on the wafer table WTB is started.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the main control device 20 raises the chuck unit 153 to a predetermined standby position (position at or near the first position) via the pair of Z voice coil motors 144. .. As a result, the loading (carrying) of the wafer W onto the wafer table WTB is completed.

Here, when the chuck unit 153 is driven upward and stopped (or while ascending), the main control device 20 detects the edge position of the wafer W by using the three measurement systems 123a to 123c described above. conduct. In this case, in the edge detection of the wafer W, the three reflectors 86 on the wafer table WTB are irradiated with the measurement beams from the measurement systems 123a, 123b, 123c, and the reflected beams from the reflectors 86 are irradiated to the measurement system 123a, This is done by receiving light from the image pickup elements 123b and 123c. The image pickup signals of the image pickup elements included in the three measurement systems 123a to 123c are sent to the signal processing system 116 (see FIG. 6), and information on the positional deviation of the wafer W and the rotation error is supplied to the main control device 20. .. The main control device 20 stores the information of the positional deviation and the rotation error in the memory as an offset amount, and considers the offset amount at the time of later wafer alignment or exposure. Control the position of the table WTB. It should be noted that the wafer W is supported by the three vertical moving pins 140 in a state where the edge detection of the wafer W is performed during the above-mentioned standby and the positional deviation and the rotation error obtained as a result are corrected, and then the wafer W is supported. Since it is mounted on the wafer table WTB, it is not always necessary to detect the edge of the wafer W after loading the wafer W onto the wafer table WTB.

As described above, according to the transfer system 120 and the exposure apparatus 100 provided with the transfer system 120 according to the present embodiment, the main control device 20 sucks the wafer W from above when the wafer W is loaded onto the wafer table WTB. The chuck unit 153 and the vertical movement pin 140 (center support member 150) that supports the wafer W from below can be moved up and down independently. That is, by controlling the lowering speed of the center support member 150 (three vertical moving pins 140) when the wafer W having been deformed such as bending or distortion is lowered to be attracted and held by the wafer stage WST. The wafer W can be loaded onto the wafer stage WST while maintaining the flatness within a desired range.

Further, in the present embodiment, the vertical movement pin 140 (center support member 150) is configured by three, and these three are configured to move up and down integrally, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the center support member 150 is configured so that the three vertical movement pins can move up and down independently of each other, and the three vertical movement pins are individually moved up and down based on the measurement result of the flatness of the wafer. Therefore, the flatness of the wafer W may be kept within a desired range. The number of vertical movement pins is limited to three, and may be less or more.

Further, in the carry-in unit 121 that constitutes a part of the transfer system 120 according to the present embodiment, the weight of the chuck unit 153 is supported by a pair of weight canceling devices 131, so that when the chuck unit 153 is driven in the vertical direction. The force of the Z voice coil motor 144 can be reduced, and the size of the pair of Z voice coil motors 144 can be reduced.

Further, in the transfer system 120 according to the present embodiment, while the wafer W is being loaded onto the wafer stage WST, the main control device 20 measures the positional deviation and the rotational deviation of the wafer W via the measurement systems 123a to 123c. , The wafer stage WST is driven so that the positional deviation and the rotational deviation of the wafer W are corrected based on the measurement result. Therefore, the wafer W can be loaded on the wafer table WTB with good position reproducibility.

Further, according to the exposure apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, the wafer W loaded on the wafer table WTB in a state of high flatness and with good position reproducibility is exposed by a stepping and scanning method. Therefore, exposure with good overlay accuracy and no defocus is possible for each of the plurality of shot regions on the wafer W, and the pattern of the reticle R can be transferred satisfactorily to the plurality of shot regions. can.

In the above embodiment, the wafer W is placed on the wafer stage WST in view of the fact that the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) are more responsive to driving than the chuck unit 153. At the time of loading, the descent speed of the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) was adjusted, and the drive device 142 was driven so that the flatness of the wafer W was within a desired range. However, on the contrary, if the chuck unit 153 has better responsiveness at the time of driving than the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150), the descent speed of the chuck unit 153 can be adjusted. desirable. When the responsiveness of the three vertical movement pins 140 (center support member 150) and the chuck unit 153 at the time of driving is similar, the descent of either or both of the center support member 150 and the chuck unit 153. You may try to adjust the speed. Further, since it is sufficient that the flatness of the wafer can be maintained at a predetermined level, the descent speed of either or both of the center support member 150 and the chuck unit 153 may be adjusted regardless of the superiority or inferiority of the responsiveness.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the wafer flatness detection system 147 is configured by a plurality of Z position detection systems 146 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the entire upper surface of the wafer is irradiated with light and the surface thereof is irradiated with light. The wafer flatness detection system may be configured by a detection device capable of detecting the shape. Further, as in the above embodiment, when the wafer flatness detection system is configured by a plurality of Z position detection systems, it is not necessary to use the triangulation type position detection system as the Z position detection system. That is, since the wafer flatness detection system only needs to be able to detect the flatness of the wafer W (Z positions at a plurality of locations), for example, as shown in FIG. 10, instead of the above-mentioned Z position detection system 146, A plurality of capacitance sensors 84 may be arranged on the lower surface of the chuck unit 153. Since the capacitance sensor 84 can be smaller than the Z position detection system 146, a plurality of measurement points of the Z position detection system 146 are arranged, for example, three points on the outer peripheral portion and one in the central portion. It can be placed in more than four places in total.

Further, the chuck unit position detection system is not limited to the triangulation type position detection system as long as the Z position of the chuck unit 153 can be measured, and includes, for example, an encoder head 97 and a scale 98 as shown in FIG. The chuck unit position detection system may be configured by using an encoder system. Alternatively, for example, at least one of the pair of Z voice coil motors 144 is provided with an encoder that measures the amount of displacement of the mover in the Z-axis direction with respect to the stator, and the chuck unit position detection system is configured by the encoder. May be. Further, the chuck unit position detection system 148 may be configured by using a capacitance sensor.

In the above embodiment, immediately before the wafer W is loaded on the wafer table WTB, the gas is ejected from the chuck member 124 toward the wafer W at an ejection speed higher than the ejection speed when the wafer W has been sucked up to that point. May be ejected. By doing so, as shown in FIG. 11, the pressure between the wafer W and the chuck member 124 rises, and the outer peripheral portion of the wafer W vibrates (a so-called pneumatic hammer phenomenon occurs). When the wafer W is further lowered in the state where this vibration is generated, the wafer W is placed on the wafer table WTB in a state where the contact area between the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface and the upper surface of the wafer holder (not shown) is small. That is, since the frictional force between the lower surface of the wafer W and the wafer holder (not shown) is reduced, the wafer table is in a state where the occurrence of suction strain is suppressed when the wafer W is sucked and held by the wafer holder (not shown). It is placed on the WTB.

In the above embodiment, the chuck unit 153 sucks the wafer W from above, and the three vertical movement pins 140 vacuum suck the wafer W on the back surface to hold the chuck unit 153 and the three vertical movement pins 140. By driving downward, the wafer W is placed on the wafer mounting surface 41 of the wafer table WTB, but the wafer W is not limited to this. For example, a transfer arm 149 may be used instead of the three vertical movement pins 140. In this case, the transport arm 149 is configured to be able to be driven within a predetermined range not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction. Then, in a state where the back surface of the wafer W is vacuum-sucked by the transfer arm 149, the surface of the wafer W is sucked by the chuck unit 153 and transferred to the chuck unit 153 by the main control device 20 using the detection result of the wafer flatness detection system 147. The descending speed of the arm 149 may be set to a predetermined value.

A groove is formed in the wafer mounting surface 41 so that the transport arm 149 does not interfere with the wafer W when the wafer W is mounted on the wafer mounting surface 41. It is preferable that the wafer mounting surface 41 can be in contact with the wafer mounting surface 41 with high accuracy. Then, the transfer arm 149 may be moved in the horizontal direction inside the groove and retracted from the wafer mounting surface 41.

As another configuration, after the wafer W is delivered from the transfer arm 149 to the chuck unit 153, the wafer W is mounted on the wafer mounting surface 41 of the wafer table WTB without using the three vertical moving pins 140. You may place it. In this case, for example, the main control device 20 controls the descending speed of the chuck unit 153, the flow velocity (flow rate) of the fluid ejected from the chuck member 124, and the flow direction of the fluid by using the detection result of the wafer flatness detection system 147. Then, the suction force of the chuck unit 153 may be set to a predetermined value. At that time, when the back surface of the wafer W is suction-supported by using the suction pad 125b of the wafer support member 125, the wafer support member 125 is cut so as to enter the wafer mounting surface 41 as in the case of the above-mentioned transfer arm 149. It is preferable to form a notch so that the wafer W and the mounting surface 41 can be in contact with each other with high accuracy. Further, when it is not necessary to restrain the movement of the wafer W in the lateral direction (direction parallel to the mounting surface), the wafer W is held by suction only by the chuck member 124 without providing the wafer support member 125, and the wafer is wafer. The wafer W may be mounted on the wafer mounting surface 41 of the table WTB. At that time, for example, the main control device 20 controls the descending speed of the chuck unit 153, the flow velocity (flow rate) of the fluid ejected from the chuck member 124, and the flow direction of the fluid by using the detection result of the wafer flatness detection system 147. Then, the suction force of the chuck unit 153 may be set to a predetermined value.

In the above embodiment, as an example, an immersion space including an optical path of illumination light is formed between the projection optical system and the wafer, and the wafer is exposed to the illumination light through the projection optical system and the liquid in the immersion space. Although the immersion exposure apparatus has been described, the above embodiment can be applied to a dry type exposure apparatus that exposes the wafer W without using liquid (water).

Further, in the above-described embodiment and its modification (hereinafter referred to as the above-mentioned embodiment and the like), a case where the exposure apparatus is a scanning exposure apparatus such as a step-and-scan method has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The above-described embodiment or the like may be applied to a static exposure device such as a stepper. Further, the above-described embodiment can be applied to a step-and-stitch type reduction projection exposure device, a proximity type exposure device, a mirror projection aligner, or the like that synthesizes a shot area and a shot area. Further, as disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 6,590,634, US Pat. No. 5,969,441, US Pat. No. 6,208,407, and the like, a plurality of wafers. The above embodiment can be applied to a multi-stage type exposure apparatus provided with a stage.

Further, the projection optical system in the exposure apparatus according to the above embodiment may be not only a reduction system but also a magnification system and an enlargement system, and the projection optical system PL may be not only a refraction system but also a reflection system and a reflection refraction system. The projected image may be either an inverted image or an upright image. Further, although the shape of the above-mentioned illumination area and exposure area is rectangular, the shape is not limited to this, and for example, an arc, a trapezoid, or a parallelogram may be used.

The light source of the exposure apparatus according to the above embodiment is not limited to the ArF excimer laser, but is not limited to the ArF excimer laser (output wavelength 248 nm), F ₂ laser (output wavelength 157 nm), Ar ₂ laser (output wavelength 126 nm), Kr ₂ It is also possible to use a pulsed laser light source such as a laser (output wavelength 146 nm), an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp that emits bright lines such as g-line (wavelength 436 nm) and i-line (wavelength 365 nm). Further, a harmonic generator of a YAG laser or the like can also be used. In addition, as disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 7,023,610, single-wavelength laser light in the infrared region or visible region oscillated from a DFB semiconductor laser or fiber laser as vacuum ultraviolet light is used. For example, a harmonic that is amplified by a fiber amplifier doped with erbium (or both erbium and itterbium) and wavelength-converted to ultraviolet light using a nonlinear optical crystal may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, it goes without saying that the illumination light IL of the exposure apparatus is not limited to light having a wavelength of 100 nm or more, and light having a wavelength of less than 100 nm may be used. For example, the above embodiment can be applied to an EUV exposure apparatus using EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) light in a soft X-ray region (for example, a wavelength range of 5 to 15 nm). In addition, the above embodiment can be applied to an exposure apparatus using a charged particle beam such as an electron beam or an ion beam.

Further, for example, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,611,316, two reticle patterns are synthesized on a wafer via projection optics and one on the wafer by a single scan exposure. The above-described embodiment can be applied to an exposure apparatus that double-exposes one shot region at almost the same time.

Further, the object (the object to be exposed to which the energy beam is irradiated) for which the pattern should be formed in the above embodiment is not limited to the wafer, and other objects such as a glass plate, a ceramic substrate, a film member, or mask blanks are used. It may be an object.

The application of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the exposure apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing, for example, an exposure apparatus for liquid crystal that transfers a liquid crystal display element pattern to a square glass plate, an organic EL, a thin film magnetic head, and an image pickup element. It can also be widely applied to exposure equipment for manufacturing (CCD, etc.), micromachines, DNA chips, and the like. Further, in order to manufacture a reticle or a mask used not only in a microdevice such as a semiconductor element but also in an optical exposure apparatus, an EUV exposure apparatus, an X-ray exposure apparatus, an electron beam exposure apparatus and the like, a glass substrate or a silicon wafer or the like is used. The above-described embodiment or the like can also be applied to an exposure apparatus that transfers a circuit pattern to a wafer.

For electronic devices such as semiconductor elements, a step of designing the function and performance of the device, a step of manufacturing a reticle based on this design step, a step of manufacturing a wafer from a silicon material, and an exposure device (pattern forming device) such as the above embodiment. ) And the lithography step of transferring the mask (reticle) pattern to the wafer by the exposure method, the development step of developing the exposed wafer, and the etching step of removing the exposed member of the part other than the part where the resist remains by etching. It is manufactured through a resist removal step, a device assembly step (including a dicing step, a bonding step, a packaging step), an inspection step, and the like to remove a resist that is no longer needed after etching. In this case, in the lithography step, the above-mentioned exposure method is executed using the exposure apparatus of the above embodiment, and the device pattern is formed on the wafer, so that a device having a high degree of integration can be manufactured with high productivity. ..

In addition, all the publications, international publications, US patent application publication specifications, and disclosures of US patent specifications relating to the exposure apparatus and the like cited in the above description are incorporated into a part of the description of this specification.

Claims (22)

It is a transport system that transports a plate-shaped object to the object mounting part.
A holding portion for holding the plate-shaped object and
A drive unit that changes the relative position of the holding unit and the object mounting unit in the vertical direction,
A support portion that supports the lower surface of the plate-shaped object from below,
As the shape of the object becomes a predetermined shape, we have a, and a control unit for controlling the drive portion and the support portion,
The holding portion is a transport system that holds the plate-shaped object from above the plate-shaped object by forming a gas flow between the holding portion and the object and generating an attractive force for the object. It is a transport system that transports a plate-shaped object to the object mounting part.
A holding portion for holding the plate-shaped object and
A drive unit that changes the relative position of the holding unit and the object mounting unit in the vertical direction,
A support portion that supports the lower surface of the plate-shaped object from below,
As the shape of the object held by the holding unit has a predetermined shape, have a, and a control unit for controlling at least one of the driving portion and the supporting portion,
The holding portion is a transport system that holds the plate-shaped object from above the plate-shaped object by forming a gas flow between the holding portion and the object and generating an attractive force for the object. The control unit according to claim 1 or 2 controls so that the shape of the plate-shaped object becomes a predetermined shape after the holding unit holding the plate-shaped object starts to move downward. Described transport system. The control unit controls the shape of the plate-shaped object so that the shape of the plate-shaped object becomes a predetermined shape after the support portion supporting the plate-shaped object starts to move downward. The transport system according to any one item. The transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the drive unit moves the holding unit in the vertical direction. The control unit is any of claims 1 to 5 that controls the movement speed of the holding unit or the moving speed of the support unit when the holding unit is moved toward the object mounting unit by the driving unit. The transport system described in item 1. The support portion supports the central region of the plate-shaped object from below, and supports the plate-shaped object from below.
When the shape of the plate-shaped object is convex downward, the control unit slows down the moving speed of the supporting portion with respect to the moving speed of the holding portion, or sets the moving speed of the holding portion to the moving speed of the holding portion. The transport system according to claim 6 , wherein the transfer speed is controlled so as to be faster than the moving speed of the support portion. The support portion supports the central region of the plate-shaped object from below, and supports the plate-shaped object from below.
When the shape of the plate-shaped object is convex upward, the control unit makes the moving speed of the support portion faster than the moving speed of the holding portion, or sets the moving speed of the holding portion to the moving speed of the holding portion. The transport system according to claim 6 or 7 , wherein the moving speed of the support portion is controlled to be slower than the moving speed. The support portion supports the central region of the plate-shaped object from below, and supports the plate-shaped object from below.
The control unit controls the moving speed of the support portion to be the same as the moving speed of the holding portion when the shape of the plate-shaped object is flat, according to any one of claims 6 to 8. Described transport system. An exposure device that forms a pattern on a plate-shaped object.
The transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An exposure device including a pattern generation device for forming the pattern by exposing the plate-shaped object transported onto the object mounting portion by the transfer system with an energy beam. A device manufacturing method that includes a lithography step.
The lithography step
Using the exposure apparatus according to claim 10 , exposing a plate-shaped object having a resist coated on the surface thereof.
A device manufacturing method comprising developing the exposed plate-like object. It is a transport method that transports a plate-shaped object to the object mounting part.
Holding the plate-shaped object by the holding part and
By changing the relative position between the holding part and the object mounting part in the vertical direction by the driving part,
Supporting the lower surface of the plate-shaped object from below with a support portion,
As the shape of the object becomes a predetermined shape, viewed contains a and controlling the driving portion and the supporting portion,
The holding method is a transport method in which a plate-shaped object is held from above by a holding portion that forms a gas flow with the object and generates an attractive force for the object. It is a transport method that transports a plate-shaped object to the object mounting part.
Holding the plate-shaped object by the holding part and
By changing the relative position between the holding part and the object mounting part in the vertical direction by the driving part,
Supporting the lower surface of the plate-shaped object from below with a support portion,
As the shape of the object held by the holding unit has a predetermined shape, viewed contains a and controlling at least one of the driving portion and the supporting portion,
The holding method is a transport method in which a plate-shaped object is held from above by a holding portion that forms a gas flow with the object and generates an attractive force for the object. The control method 12 or claim 12 controls so that the shape of the plate-shaped object becomes the predetermined shape after the holding portion holding the plate-shaped object starts to move downward. 13. The transport method according to 13. The control is claimed 12 to control so that the shape of the plate-shaped object becomes the predetermined shape after the support portion supporting the plate-shaped object starts to move downward. 14. The transport method according to any one of 14. The transport method according to any one of claims 12 to 15 , wherein the holding portion is moved in the vertical direction by the driving portion by changing the relative position between the holding portion and the object mounting portion in the vertical direction. .. The control according to claim 12 to 16 controls the moving speed of the holding portion or the moving speed of the supporting portion when the holding portion is moved toward the object mounting portion by the driving portion. The transport method according to any one of the items. In the above-mentioned support, the central region of the plate-shaped object is supported from below by the support portion.
In the control, when the shape of the plate-shaped object is convex downward, the moving speed of the support portion is made slower than the moving speed of the holding portion, or the moving speed of the holding portion is reduced. The transport method according to claim 17 , wherein the speed is controlled to be faster than the moving speed of the support portion. In the above-mentioned support, the central region of the plate-shaped object is supported from below by the support portion.
In the control, when the shape of the plate-shaped object is convex upward, the moving speed of the support portion is made faster than the moving speed of the holding portion, or the moving speed of the holding portion is increased. The transport method according to claim 17 or 18 , wherein the moving speed of the support portion is controlled to be slower than the moving speed. In the above-mentioned support, the central region of the plate-shaped object is supported from below by the support portion.
The control is any one of claims 17 to 19 for controlling the moving speed of the support portion and the moving speed of the holding portion to be the same when the shape of the plate-shaped object is flat. The transport method described in the section. An exposure method that forms a pattern on a plate-shaped object.
An exposure method for forming the pattern by exposing the plate-shaped object transported onto the object mounting portion by the transport method according to any one of claims 12 to 20 with an energy beam. A device manufacturing method that includes a lithography step.
The lithography step
The exposure method according to claim 21 is used to expose a plate-shaped object having a resist coated on the surface thereof.
A device manufacturing method comprising developing the exposed plate-like object.

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